You Don't Know Me
by Mad-like
Summary: Sam and Mercedes at the prom.  AU because they're not on a group date and I'm substituting Doctor Who for Avatar.
1. Chapter 1  At Prom

Sam and Mercedes sat at the piano in the choir room. Mercedes picked out a tune on the keyboard while Sam strummed his guitar.

"I wonder what he wants" Sam said. "Maybe he was so impressed with _Whiskey Lullaby_ he wants us to sing it at Nationals."

"I doubt it" Mercedes had spoken to Mr. Schuester privately about Nationals and his plans did not include a lead for Miss Mercedes Jones, that much was clear.

"I understand neither of you are going to the prom" their teacher said entering the room. Sam and Mercedes looked at each other.

"Nobody asked me." Mercedes said. "I'm not getting dressed up to sit around and be ignored. I can do that at home for free."

"You know how many pizzas you have to deliver to earn $30?" Sam added. "Why should I buy a ticket to watch my ex-girlfriends dance with other guys? Besides, Citizen Kane is coming on and I want to see who Rosebud is." He winked at Mercedes.

"Bring a pizza and we'll watch it at my house" Mercedes said laughing.

"Rosebud's a sled, Sam" Mr. Schuester said. "It's the name of his sled."

"Way to ruin a movie, Mr. Schue." Mercedes said with a straight face.

"Next you'll want me to believe Soylent Green is people." Sam said.

"Or that the Maltese Falcon is a fake."

"Or Donna Noble is a time lord."

Mercedes stared at him. "You just lost me, bro."

"Well, Donna's this secretary, see, and she thinks she's in love with this guy in her office because he brings her coffee every day, but-"

"Guys", Mr. Schuester interrupted "fascinating as this all is since you're not going to the prom can I ask you to be in charge of the music? Since you know how Citizen Kane turns out can you drag yourselves away?"

"Will we get badges?" Sam winked again.

"Badges! We don't need no stinking badges!" Mercedes shouted.

Mr. Schuester sighed and wondered if he was making a mistake.

* * *

><p>It was Puck's idea to do "Friday" because somehow Coach Sue left it off the banned song list. Rachel want to do "Jar of Hearts" because she didn't know who she was more pissed off at – Finn or Jesse. Blaine wanted to sing "Teach Your Boyfriend to Dance" as a hint to Kurt. He didn't go to McKinley but so what?<p>

Things were going pretty well until the prom queen debacle. Mercedes always hated expressions like "man up" or "take it like a man" but from that day on she pictured Kurt and Blaine walking into that gym whenever someone used that expression. They looked like they were headed to the guillotine.

"It's a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done" Sam thought. That line from "A Tale of Two Cities" was stuck in his head. Since Kurt was wearing a kilt Mercedes expected him to shout "Freedom!" like whoever the hell Mel Gibson was supposed to be in whatever that movie was.

Instead he pasted on his most angelic smile and made a joke. He was magnificent. The joke didn't get wild applause, but nobody threw a bucket of blood and guts either. Then that idiot Figgins expected Kurt and Dave to dance. Dave bolted and Blaine stepped up. No jeers, no insults. Mercedes realized she was holding her breath and exhaled.

Sam sang "Time in a Bottle" as a special request from Blaine. Kurt kissed him, right there on the dance floor. Santana sang "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy" and winked at the boys. Both boys blushed. Rachel and Quinn sang "King of Anything" before leaving to find their missing boyfriends. Artie asked if the band could play "Bodhisattva" and Alyce and Ben, who Mercedes knew from church, tore though the guitar solos. Tina finally got a chance to finish "I Follow Rivers."

Finally the night was over, time for the last song. Santana requested something slow and sad. She'd been dancing with Brit since Dave left.

"You Don't Know Me?" Sam asked. Mercedes nodded.

"**You Don't Know Me**" Ray Charles, Diana Krall  
>No, you don't know the one who dreams of you at night,<p>

and longs to kiss your lips and longs to hold you tight.

To you, I'm just a friend, that's all I've ever been - no you don't know me.

Sam couldn't believe his eyes. Mercedes was staring at Kurt and crying. The thing about Mercedes was, well Sam didn't know Mercedes well enough to have many items on his "things about Mercedes" list but he'd been working with her all week on the prom set list and while she agonized over song selection – he'd been forced to listen to 20 versions of "You Don't Know Me" because every singer who could hold a microphone had recorded this song - her performances were consistent. The first time sounded exactly like the 10th time. The only reason he looked over was because "You don't know me" sounded different, pained. Now he racked his brain for some trivia about Mercedes and Kurt – nothing. They used to hang out together before Kurt left but how about now – she hung out with Kurt and Rachel. Who did she hang out when Kurt was gone? Had Kurt ever mentioned her? No. Had she ever mentioned him? Nope. Odd, really odd.

While waiting for Mercedes' dad to pick them up, since Rachel had ditched them, Sam and Mercedes were having the same thought, "I guess this is the part were we're supposed to kiss." Mercedes was opposed to getting kissed in principle, it just seemed kind of awkward. But when Sam leaned over she accepted his kiss. It was a very nice kiss actually, but the fireworks she expected – nope.

"Sam, I'm sorry but I think I just want a mate."

His eyes widened "Did you just say you wanted to mate?"

"Not 'TO mate', A mate'. That's Dr. Who talk for 'friend'. You must be really tired to miss a Doctor/Donna reference."

He looked even more surprised. "You looked up Donna Noble?"

"It took two minutes on the 'net and 15 minutes watching Youtube. Not exactly written in ancient Gallifreyan, hidden on the Boeshane Peninsula and guarded by sandworms."

"Did you say the Boeshane Peninsula? You turn me down and then reference Dr. Who, Torchwood and Dune correctly in one sentence? I think I'm in love, Ms. Jones."

"Well don't get too excited. That's all I've got."

They sat in silence until Sam asked "Okay, since we're friends, what's up with you and Kurt?"

"See, this is why people make out, so they don't have to answer that kind of question. And who knew you were so nosy? Kurt and I are friends."

"And that's all you've ever been?"

"You could use that line in a song, 'cept somebody beat you to it. Yes, that's all I've ever been to him. That's a pretty random question, why?"

"I don't know, you just kept staring at him, especially during that last song. It didn't seem friend-like."

She gave him an appraising look. Why was Sam paying that much attention to her? "If you must know I had a thing for him last year. It was pretty embarrassing, and expensive I'll add. I think it was mostly loneliness. Everybody was paired up and I felt left out so I thought, why not Kurt?"

"And he wasn't gay last year?"

"Yeah, well, there was that." She laughed. "And Kurt can be a real pain in the ass when he sets his mind to it. I'm not saying I don't want what I convinced myself I saw in Kurt. It's just I don't think Glee Club's where I'm going to find it." her cell phone rang. "Dad's here." she said standing up.

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	2. Chapter 2  At Nationals

The good news – Rachel would be fine in 8 to 12 hours.

The bad news – New Directions was scheduled to perform in 4 hours. She could sing in the second round, if they made the second round.

You'd think somebody besides Sam would have seen the flaw in Mr. Schuester's plan. After all, Sam was supposed to be the dumb one. Show up with no material and base your entire routine on one person – what could go wrong? Well, that one person could be laid up with an ear infection and need 8 hours for the antibiotics to kick in.

There were a lot of things Sam still didn't understand about how New Directions functioned. Why Finn was always singing lead for one thing. He really dragged Rachel down. Artie and Puck were much better singers. Hell, even he was a better singer than Finn. Kurt picked the oddest songs to sing but his range was phenomenal, a decent coach could really do something with that. Santana, snarky bitch that she was, had a strong and sultry voice. Mercedes was definitely in the top three voices, girl-wise, and absolutely the most versatile member of the club, she could sing anything with anybody and it always sounded good. Unfortunately for her, Mercedes was on the heavy side and was never going to get a lead from Mr. Schuester, that was clear. She was a way better singer than Quinn but obviously Quinn had the look Schuester wanted, a beautiful icy blonde vs a big-boned black girl.

A lot of Mercedes' diva rep was based on frustration, Sam figured. Just like _Dreamgirls_, actually. _Dreamgirls_? Really? He reminded himself he only watched_ Dreamgirls _so she'd be obligated to watch_ Avatar._ But still. Regardless of how much Mercedes and her family had done for his family, he definitely had to stop hanging out with her so much before he started saying stuff like that out loud.

Then a brilliant idea fell into Sam's lap. Actually Tina fell into his lap because Mike was chasing her around the hotel room they were all locked into and Sam was sitting on the floor. He looked at Tina, probably the most underrated singer in the group. Maybe it was her crazy behavior earlier this year, whatever that was all about seemed to be over now, but Sam had thought Tina was kind of flaky. He'd made the mistake once of saying that in front of Mercedes, big mistake. He shuddered just thinking how she'd told him off. Anyway, Tina's rendition of _Pure Imagination_ at that funeral last week was awesome, maybe even good enough to...

"Here's what we're gonna do." Sam announced, standing up.

"We're going to wait for Finn to get back with Mr. Schuester's instructions." Quinn said.

"No, we're not. Look where Mr. Schue's plan has gotten us. Totally unprepared for what may be our only shot. Here's what he's going to say – let's do our Sectionals performance. No, we're not going to do that. Maybe we are screwed without Rachel but I think there's a couple of other people in this room who can win a competition. But if we are doomed, let's go out with class, like how Braveheart over there walked back into the prom." He pointed to Kurt who texting Blaine.

"I think I know how to make it into the top ten. Tina?" Tina looked up, surprised. "Tina, can you do _Pure Imagination_ again?"

"But Tina-" Lauren started.

"Tina," Sam interrupted, no time for second-guessing now, "can you do it? You were great and it's still fresh in our minds. You'll have Artie and Puck."

"Sure, I can do it." She smiled confidently.

"If Tina has Artie and Puck where am I?" Kurt asked. He had shared the lead with Tina last week.

Mercedes was a bottomless pit of Kurt Hummel stories, she really needed to get over him Sam thought. Sam particularly enjoyed the story about the rock and the windshield, which was useless now, so he dredged up the one that was relevant to the current situation. "Eighth grade extravaganza!" He announced triumphantly. Mercedes laughed, really laughed, for the first time since the two of them had spotted Kurt and Rachel at that jewelry store this morning. Kurt wondered how Sam knew a random middle-school story. They must be hanging out more than he thought.

"What is that?" Santana asked.

"It's the first song Kurt and I ever sang in public, back in middle school. I Knew You Were Waiting by Aretha Franklin and George Michael. Why did you pick that?"

"Your Aretha Franklin is a killer. Kurt, I've never heard your George Michael but you shouldn't have much trouble with doing it again. You can throw in some of those crazy high notes but don't get carried away."

* * *

><p>Sam lay on his back, staring at the ceiling and listening to Kurt and Mercedes sing. Mercedes was killing that song, and not in a good way. What did he hear in her voice? Anger, that was it.<p>

How about Kurt? Kurt was...irritated? Yeah, he sounded irritated. If Kurt knew her half as well as she claimed he did then he knew she could sing better than this. Sam barely knew her and he could tell she was mad about something. He rolled over and looked at them.

"Time out" he called. He could hear the rest of the club practicing in the other room. If this didn't get settled soon he'd go with plan B – Mercedes wasn't mad at Santana and "River Deep/Mountain High" was damned good.

"Normally I don't go around minding other people's business" Mercedes snickered. Minding her business seemed to be Sam's full-time job lately. "But this kinda affects me. Have a seat." They sat on the bed on either side of Sam.

"Mr. Hummel, Ms. Jones would like you to know that she knows all about brunch at Banana Republic."

"That's Sam's idea of a joke" Mercedes said seeing Kurt's baffled expression. "He means Breakfast at Tiffany's." Kurt's eyes widened, something Mercedes usually found adorable. But not today.

Kurt wondered how she found out about that so quickly. "You don't even like that movie. And besides-" he started.

"We don't have time for that right now." Sam interrupted. "If you two aren't ready when they get back they'll lead with me and Quinn 'cause we're both so gosh darned cute. So let's take a shortcut, shall we? Mercedes is mad that you didn't invite her on your field trip this morning. Kurt's wondering why you didn't just come out and say that because you're besties. Mercedes is thinking she saw you and your best friend yakking it up in front of Tiffany's. Don't deny it, Kurt, 'cause I saw it myself. So who's she supposed to believe – you or her lying eyeballs? And if she chooses to believe her eyes instead of whatever you can come up with, what is she to you? Norah Jones – pretty good, huh, Mercy? I've got more points if you need them but that ought to be enough to get you guys started. I have to go next door and practice."He left them sitting on the bed.

"Your boyfriend is smarter than he looks." Kurt said after a few minutes.

"So NOT my boyfriend." she snapped.

"Well, he wouldn't make a bad boyfriend. He knows you better than I do. I'm sorry for not inviting you this morning."

"She appreciated it more than I would have." They sat in silence for several minutes. "So, are you planning to say goodbye or do we just keep drifting apart? Quinn never said goodbye when she moved out of my house. You didn't say goodbye when you left for Dalton. Sam could be plotting an escape back to Memphis next week for all I know. Goodbye. Two syllables. That's not a lot to ask."

"Mercedes, I am so sorry. I'm being selfish. I want Blaine for a boyfriend, Rachel for a best friend and you because I've known you so long. That's not fair to you." He smiled at her. "But we had fun, didn't we? It wasn't all bad. I guess this is goodbye first best friend ever."

"Kurt Hummel," she hugged him. "You were the best first best friend a person could ask for."

* * *

><p>Kurt and Mercedes were out when Mr. Schuester, Finn and Rachel got back from the emergency room. They walked in laughing but quickly felt the tension in the room. Mr. Schuester, Finn, Quinn, Rachel and Santana on one side of the room, Sam and the rest of the Glee club lined up on the other side.<p>

"Why don't you hear it first, before you decide? If they're no good we can go with our Sectionals performance." Sam said, trying to sound reasonable.

He walked over to hand Mercedes a bottle of water. "In the words of Bobby Gentry, here's your one chance, Fancy. Don't let me down." he whispered.

"So" Mr. Schuester started. "Sam says you guys want to do _I Knew You Were Waiting_ as our opening act."

"Actually, Mr. Schuester" Kurt said "you're always talking about expressing ourselves in music? Well, we picked a song that better expresses our relationship, at least as it stands right now."

They proceeded to unleash a no-holds-barred diva smack-down featuring Stephanie Mills vs Prince - "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore?" Kurt and Mercedes let loose every singing trick they knew, and between them that was quite a few. There was no comparison to "Time of My Life", which Mr. Schuester wanted to go with. He couldn't say no.

"No" he said. "It's too risky. It's going to be Sam and Quinn."

"May I speak to you, privately?" Mercedes walked into the adjourning hotel room without waiting for an answer. Mr. Schuester followed her. Whatever she had to say didn't take long because she was back in 5 minutes.

She sat on the bed next to Rachel. "How ya doing?"

"Never mind that, what did you say?" The other kids crowded around.

"Doesn't matter. His mind is made up." "I'm sticking with my decision." Mr. Schuester announced walking into the room.

"No." Quinn said standing up. "Why do you tell us to celebrate what makes us different if you keep putting the people who are the most different in the back row? Everybody in this room knows Mercedes is a better singer than I am. Kurt and Mercedes can get us past this round. I don't know why you can't, or won't, hear her. When she sings something soft and pretty you ignore her, when she's screaming for attention you say it's too much. I can't see her because every time I look at her I see Beth. But why can't you hear her? I don't get it." She sat down again. "I'm not going on stage unless Mercedes is singing a lead."

"Quinn, you don't have to do this." Mercedes said.

"Yes, I do Mercedes. Mr. Schuester, you can take what you're calling a risk with Mercedes and Kurt or I can stay here and pretend to take care of Rachel. I guess I can keep her alive for a couple of hours. If I have to. Because there's witnesses. But unfortunately," she said regretfully "I believe that would put you below the number of people you need to compete." She snapped her fingers. "Darn!" She sat down and picked up a magazine. "It's up to you."

* * *

><p>Rachel tried to sleep while New Directions competed. She heard them chanting as soon as they got off the elevator. "We're number 9! We're number 9!"<p> 


End file.
